Jodi Picoult

A popular novel about a girl suing her parents because they want her to donate a kidney to her sister was named by the American Library Association as one of the top 10 books banned in 2009, with the novel being pulled from the shelves for a host of reasons, including homosexuality, sexually explicit material, religious viewpoint, drugs and suicide. Reprint. A best-selling book.

A Novel

My Sister's Keeper

I feel so sorry for the mom and the entire family, but something in the way she handles her other kids in this situation bugs me and I am really rooting for Anna 

Liv Gliese Johnsen

I watch through the postage-stamp window as Anna is rolled to her side and an impossibly long needle is lifted from a sterile tray. 

Conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister, teenage Anna decides to fight for the right to make decisions about her own body.

Donny

Bhavya Sharma

This book hurt, a lot! I liked writing style, I like the multiple POVs, it’s a very complex story and I’m still in two minds on what’s the right take away, the ending had me sobbing for quite a while, I couldn’t breathe a very insightful and impactful story of grief and love 

Kira Louise Morris

Liv Harman 

Monicap

★★★★★ // very well-written and easily lets you empathize with the characters, even the less likeable ones. has an unexpected ending that is equally shocking and all sorts of heartbreaking.

Audrey Lord

I haven't even finished reading this book but after reading some reviews I'm furious. Some people can't appreciate a good story. "the end sucked" too bad. It's not your story you didn't write it. To me a sad ending is just how life is. Stories aren't ALL supposed to end well!

Lacy W

This was read as part of Jamison's Marvel-a-thon.
The challenge: The Avengers: Read a book with multiple POVS.

tw: use of word r*tard, cancer, death, mentions of alcohol abuse, drug use, neglect


  It takes me a little while but I break away. 
"Anna," I murmur.
My mother turns. "What?"
"A four letter word for vessel." I say and walk out of Kate's room.


That little segment perfectly describes what this book is about. Anna is essentially used as a vessel to keep her oldest sister, Kate, alive. Kate is dying to a rare form of leukemia. Sounds like the makings of quite a book. And it really was! But, it wasn't without it's downfalls, of course. 

In this book, we had 6 (six) POVs but it certainly didn't feel a like a lot and this why Picoult is the queen of multiple POVs. Each POV offered insight surrounding Anna's life and the trial. Anna is suing her parents for the rights to her body and to make medical decisions on her own. My least favorite POV was Sara's, the girl's mom. I understand why her POV was included, as it was mostly about the past involving Kate's illness and to invoke sympathy for all the moms out there. But honestly, I found myself so angry with Sara and I couldn't accept her actions. I could not understand why she conceived a daughter simply to keep her other daughter aine. That didn't sit right with me. Not one bit. 

This book also shows the reality of what parents deal with when having a sick child. Jesse, the brother, was often left behind because everything revolved around Anna and Kate. In my eyes, the neglect felt real and my heart broke for this guy. He knows his parents love him and he loves his sisters but he felt so displaced in the family. The worst part of the whole thing is that the neglect was not intentional but it still happened. And that just sucks. 

That only real downfall of this book is it's very wordy, like a lot of Picoult's books are. Every POV had to spout some profound thing whenever it switch to them. Often times, it was a lot of profoundness. While this was interesting at first, it started to wear thin about a while. I just wanted to get to what was happening. 

Overall, this was a great book despite the wordiness. It makes you wonder about right and wrong. About what consent really means. About if children can give medical consent. Why children are conceived. If you are looking for a book that makes you question what you would do if you were in a situation like this, then this the book for you.

Heather Smith

** spoiler alert **
           Main idea, Anna - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
THE ENDING (as others have mentioned, it was poorly executed and a cop out), Campbell & Julia, & the lack of development for Jesse - ⭐⭐

What got me first interested in this book was when I saw the movie years ago. Now, when I started reading this, I had forgotten everything that happened so the plot took me by surprise. I liked the lawyer setting of this and how it was all about making choices. The brief love story between Taylor and Kate gave me "The Fault in our Stars" vibes which I really loved. The second chance romance between Julia and Campbell was really a page-turner, you could definitely feel the tension between them since the first time they see each other again. The ending was quite shocking but I do understand the sentiment of it and I loved the monologue Kate has at the end about grief and how it fits itself into one's life.

Gabriella Parker

Belle

I never expected what happened at the end! A heart-wrenching story.

Another masterpiece, if you haven't read anything by Jodi Picoult, do it now.

Deea <3

Ilona Labská 

I finished it in few hours. Amazing book, that draw you right into story and make you ponder about life...

Ayden

it could have been the worst book in the world and i would still give it a five star rating just because of the ending.

cora rolfes 

that was a really dumb ending omg 

i feel like it could have been like 100 pages shorter, i found myself skipping a lot of the endless metaphors

but it was interesting

Jordan /

The ending is so different from the movie and made me appreciate the book that much more!

Kaela Childers

Before I read this book, all I knew about it was that a girl had cancer, but there is so much more to it than that. This is Anna's story, but it's also Kate's, Campbell's, Julie's, Sara's, Brian's and Jesse's.
Anna says she just wants to be heard, but that's only part of the story. Sara was blind to her emotionally starving children, and to Kate's wishes, her world revolved around saving Kate. 
I liked reading all the character's POV's, which is one of the reasons I was so disappointed with the movie. It was so different! Especially the ending. 
I don't think I've ever read a book as intense as this one, I was an emotional wreck, especially after I watched the movie right after finishing the book. 
The ending of the book blindsided me, and made me want to scream and cry, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Jaymie Lemke

Allison Blakeley

good lord this book was too juicy! i couldn't put it down and ended up staying up well into the night just to see what happened. it's great for filling an evening of nothing to do, but be prepared, you'll totally want to finish it within a couple sittings.

Sarah Escorsa

A very nice read:) I really like the fact that Picoult tried to envision all aspects of the problem and that the viewpoints of all involved was expressed. Actually I was a bit bothered when I started reading and found out that each chapter was told by a different character but in the end it worked really well and added a lot to the book. The one thing that disappointed me though was the ending of the book. I was curious to find out what Picoult would come up with as a conclusion but this was just... I don't know how to word it really, it just somehow felt like an easy way out, or something out of a film... Still, this is a very good book and I understand why it's been such a success:)

Conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister, teenage Kate begins to question her moral obligations in light of countless medical procedures and decides to fight for the right to make decisions about her own body.

Flavia Louise

I bought this book for a dollar in a Half Priced Books sale while I was in the US last summer because I like the movie. 
Well the rating says it: I didn't like this book, I hated the ending, didn't like the writing style. So many cliches and the story was not enough to justify 500 pages.

Caroline Mao

NO ONE WARNED ME ABOUT THE ENDING AND NOTHING IS FAIR.

*cue disgusting sobbing noises*

Okay. Wow. What do I even say about this book? I started reading Jodi Picoult when House Rules happened to me - and yes, I do mean happened, because I may have been the one to pick it up but it crashed through my life and left the remnants of my heart scattered across the ground. I liked it, so I decided to pick up a book I'd actually heard of before - My Sister's Keeper. I was disappointed, which is to say I was heartbroken by this book and I wasn't supposed to be, damn it.

Aside from the ending - !heartbreaking! - everything else was heartbreaking, too. I appreciate Picoult's approach to people who aren't what society expects to be the norm - perfect able-bodied, neurotypical kids who smile when they're supposed to. Not to mention the book really made me think. I believe bodily autonomy supersedes every right you have, even the right to life, and this book hasn't changed that. I still believe that. But seeing the struggles of the Fitzgeralds, and trying to come up with a solution that wouldn't leave them in pieces? Well, I couldn't find it.

There were a couple things about this book I didn't like, such as the Campbell/Julia subplot. I didn't really find that interesting, because as Seven said, it's such an utter cliche. There was nothing about their relationship that I didn't find cliche. I also wish we could have gotten closer to Kate, but that's okay, and I feel like I was suddenly given a ton of insight into the way she works when (view spoiler)[Anna got up to the stand and started talking about what her sister thinks (hide spoiler)]. This insight also hurt my heart.

The characters in this were pretty well-rounded, I guess. Usually, in YA lit I don't find the parents too interesting, because they're not made out by the writer to be interesting, but Picoult doesn't do that. I liked both Brian and Sara (although I liked Emma and Henry from House Rules more). I liked Anna. I liked Jesse. Everything was beautiful.

To wrap up this review - this book wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close. I'm going to go find some tissues now and blow my nose.

Georgia Carr

This book is extremely good and extremely sad, all at the same.

Andrea

A master piece. 
I started to love Jodi Picoult with this book, I only read it because I loved the movie. But the book is better than the movie. Now, I hate the movie, I hate how it has changed all the things and the feeling.
I've chosen four stars because I would like to see more about Jesse, I think that he have had a lot of problems, and when I finished the book I really wanted to know more about Jesse.

Ella Bouic

4.5 stars. This book is incredible. I stared off not really bothered about reading but you get so captivated so quickly. I have many mixed feelings towards all of the characters and some got me so angry. The end was absolutely shocking and took me by surprise. I would definitely read this again and is definitely one of the best books I’ve read.

shalee olsen

My heart has exploded from this book. I have decided that i completely forgot this book from the last time I read it, and only remember the movie. 

This books ending is the reason I read books. Simply put POWERFUL. 

Jodi Picoult is a writer like none other. She writes every story with such confidence and knowledge that you will find yourself thinking it’s something she has taken from her very own life. 

I listened to the audiobook this time around and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love a book that has multiple readers. 

If you haven’t read any of Jodi’s writing, I highly recommend this one as a starter. You will be hooked.

My Sister's Keeper A Novel

Reviews

Highlights